Opinion

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Maintenance of doctrine necessary in Catholic schools

Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster holds truth

Every once in a while, an incident comes along that perfectly clarifies the state of our political discourse. Last week, Sen. Rand Paul’s, R-Kentucky, 13-hour filibuster did exactly that. Anyone even remotely concerned with civil liberties, checks and balances and due process of law should have cheered Paul’s filibuster for seeking explicit limits on the use of drones against American citizens on American soil. Indeed, Paul’s discussion, while welcome, did not go remotely far enough in scope.

Vote yes for new ASM constitution

If you have not voted in the Associated Students of Madison elections, take this as your last second reminder. Read some of the statements and take part, because the people you elect are in control of your dollars and deserve your scrutiny. Pick wisely and take more than 30 seconds to make your decision.

Obesity epidemic in United States stems from our choices

TA grading system inherently flawed

High rise apartments taking over Madison's neighborhoods

Do what you love, aspiring law folk

More accountability needed after police use deadly force

Nov. 9, Madison man Paul Heenan was shot dead by Officer Stephen Heimsness of the Madison Police Department. Heenan, following a night of drinking, mistakenly entered the wrong house and Heimsness arrived on the scene in response to a 911 call by the homeowners. The fatal shooting occurred after Heenan allegedly struggled with Heimsness and reached for his gun. The incident has caused much controversy and once again brought the issue of lethal police force into politicaldiscussion. It recently came to light that Heimsness had faced 15 complaints prior to the recent incident, including eight allegations of excessive force, one which he was found guilty. Ibelieve Heimsness’ report and I trust that he would not have used deadly force unless he feared for his safety. However, I also believe that Heenan did not have to die that night. Police departments should work harder to prevent instances of unnecessary deadly force.

Examining the ethnic studies requirement

The Associated Students of Madison Diversity Committee came away from its Ethnic Studies Roundtable with four main ideas for revamping the Ethnic Studies requirement: increase therequirement to two classes instead of one; require one of the classes be taken in the first two years on campus; have smaller discussion sections; and include service learning as part of the classes.

Chavez's successes misrepresented and ignored by American media

CISPA bill a blatant invasion of personal online privacy

Media influence on self-image damaging

So for those of you who haven’t heard, a disgruntled Australian mother found her 7-year-old daughter’s “diyet”list. Yes, seven years old, and, yes spelled “diyet.” Here’s my first question: How does a 7-year-old even know what a diet is? I’m impressed with how she got the spelling so close, just one extra y in there! And my second question: Why oh why does a 7-year-old care about a diet? I already knew that society made it extremely difficult for women’s self-esteem, being that I am a woman, but after hearing about this 7-year-old’s diet plan, I realize we really have a long way to go.

Tuition cap a very tempting bad idea

Gov. Scott Walker’s recent budget announcement revealed $181 million of increased funding for the University of Wisconsin System. Despite this large influx of money for the UW System, his budget proposal has found its detractors, mainly about one point in the Governor’s plan.

High time for United States to legalize hemp production

'I'm Schmacked' series influential

U.S. relations with China damaged after Chinese hack American businesses

2013 Oscars soiled by Seth MacFarlane and The Onion

Gov. Walker's voucher system problematic

Yahoo! CEO's move against telecommuting a smart decision

Last week, Marissa Mayer, current CEO of Yahoo!, declared to her Yahoo! employees they were no longer allowed to telecommute, a change to begin June of this year. I was amazed to hear about her bold move to make it mandatory to work in the office, or as the memo, sent by Yahoo!’s human resources head Jackie Reses, actually reads, “We need to be one Yahoo!., and that starts with physically being together.”

In depth look at teaching intelligent design

Last week I covered the intersection of religion and science, and concluded that in many cases religion answers “why?” questions while science answers “how?” questions. I also highlighted a problem: Sometimes religion’s answers will extend beyond the why and into the how, for example the creation story in Genesis explaining how the Earth was made. This will cause some devoted practitioners who prefer the religious answers to find themselves at odds with many in the scientific community.  This is okay, provided both sides understand the reasons behind this divide and keep the discussion intellectual and mature. Finally, I briefly discussed one specific problem with this conclusion: how we should approach intelligent design and evolution in public schools.